Can my military retirement and social security be garnished to help pay for long term care?

Maybe I'm over simplifying your question. If your wife requires long term care in a facility and as a married couple you have assets which would include income regardless of where it comes from you would be expected to pay out of pocket. If together your assets and income fall below the required level then you can apply for Medicaid. Lots of people choose to spend down their assets in accordance to Medicaid guidelines to qualify for Medicaid. As a married couple on Medicaid if your wife lives in a care facility and you do not, you will be allowed to keep some income to support yourself - I don't know the amount but it's not a lavish amount. Two options I know of to protect your assests from counting towards the assessed level for your wife's care is some kind of trust or a legal separation. I apologize ahead of time if I misunderstood your question.

I live in Idaho. My specific question on savings and investments is can they take everything or only half to pay for long term care . And/or does it matter if the accounts are in my name, her name, or both names. Also at issue are IRAs.

retmilitary, What you are allowed to keep varies by state rules. So you need to tell us what state you are in, or go to your state website for Medicaid.

If you're asking if a long term care facility can garnish SS, I doubt it as it's my understanding that a commercial entity can't garnish this type of government payment. As to your military retirement, I suspect the same situation is true but haven't specifically researched it legally, which is what you'd need to have for a truly accurate answer.

As to your second question, I'm not sure what the real issue is. If they're YOUR savings and investment, you can use whatever portion you want for long term care, unless they're in some kind of restricted account.

Also, what % of our savings and investments can be used to pay for long term care?